Naming 
If a parking facility or area has a documented identity, such as Beach Street Garage, 18th Avenue/Geary Lot, Lot 7 - <Stadium name>, Short-Term Parking - <Airport name>, Cell Phone Lot - <Airport name>, etc., its Place should reflect that name to facilitate searches. Generic park-and-ride lots should be named consistently according to local custom, for example as Park & Ride.
For public parking lots where the operator (and/or a parking lot finder app) lists the lot name as an address, then list it as Parking - Address. Especially if the parking lot's entrance is not near the address of the lot/ front door, then have the PLA's pin(s) at the appropriate location(s). This will help someone who searches for the address, they can be routed to the front door to drop someone off or if desired will see the "Parking - Address" and be routed to the location to park on a side street, the street behind the main address or an alley/parking lot road between buildings when the parking lot's/garage's entrance is not visible from the address pin. This guidance is not for general parking at a store like Starbucks or where several stores share a parking lot at a strip mall.
- If there is a listing with proper name/Address, ex. National Theater Garage/2354 Massachusetts Ave, list the proper name as the PLA's primary name and use then Parking - Address as the alternate.
- If an alternate address is given for the actual entrance, then add that as an alternate name. Example for National Theater there is an indication that the entrance is 129 8th St, then add Parking - 129 8th St and make sure there that House Number is added to WME.
- Note some parking lots/garages even have signage that says "Welcome to 2354 Massachusetts Ave" as you drive into the lot/garage, especially if the entrance is on another street.
The foundational guidance for naming a PLA when the lot serves another entity, is to follow this basic format:
[Parking Descriptor] <restrictions> - [Entity served]
The framework is not recursive. In other words, there is only one business served in any lot name, and the rest of the name is the descriptor. As a rule the descriptor will always have a word in it identifying it as parking, e.g. parking, garage, or lot. The descriptor can be:
- Completely generic - For single-business - single-lot
Parking - Starbucks
- Purpose descriptive - Where there is only one lot of the type
Customer Parking - Office Depot,Employee Parking - Office Depot,Visitor Parking - LSU Eunice,Employee Parking - MSY[airport]
- Location descriptive - Where more than one lot serve the same purpose for the same place
Southeast Lot - Big Hill Shopping Center,Macy's Lot - Big Hill Shopping Center,Grand Blvd Lot - Big Hill Shopping Center,Target Garage - Big Hill Shopping Center,Dillard's South Lot - Big Hill Shopping Center,North Lot - Offices at Buildingtown Plaza
- Named - Where the lot is given an official name
Garage 2A - Mercedes-Benz Superdome,Credit Card Lot - MSY
Examples
If a Parking Lot Area Place is contained within a larger Area Place, do not repeat the larger Area's full name. For example, if the Domestic Garage is contained within the "SFO San Francisco International Airport" Area Place boundaries, it need not be named "SFO San Francisco International Airport Domestic Garage"; "Domestic Garage - SFO" is sufficient.
If a mall or shopping center has several lots which can be associated with various anchor stores in the mall/shopping center, the lots can be named for the anchor stores. For example: "Macy's Lot - Big Hill Shopping Center"
In rare cases, a municipality or district provides public parking distinct from any other Area Place but without any documented or signed identity. These can be named after the municipality or district, for example, "Redwood City Public Parking". Do not use completely generic names such as "Parking" or "Public Parking" for anonymous parking facilities.
A block range or specific address should not be used to name a lot, unless it is listed by the parking lot operator (or a parking lot finder app) on their website; then that is considered to be the formal name of the lot. If the lot does not have an official and/or signed name, then leave the name blank, and be sure to add the address details in the address field. Some imported PLAs were created with the address or address block range as the name, these names should be removed accordingly. Check your local guidance for any variations.
- NOTE: It is very important if there is no name for the lot that there be a proper address in the address field. If you don't know the exact address you should at least put the street the main entrance is on, and - if you can - an approximate house number. The address is needed to be displayed in the search results, and differentiate the lot from all the others. Users can see the address displayed, and know which lot it is when viewing the results list.
Restricted parking
If there are posted signs restricting the lot to only one certain category of users (e.g. Customers, Residents, Staff, Attendees, Permit Holders, Faculty, Students, etc.) ONLY, then put that restriction in the name. If the lot is restricted to more than one category of users, then put "(restricted access)" in the name. Also put the details of the restriction in the description.
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Omit the restriction in the name if it is self-explanatory (e.g., Parking - Starbucks, is obviously for Starbucks patrons only). |
Examples:
Lot D (attendees only) - Cheery StadiumAlpha Lot (permit only) - StudyHard UniversityParking allowed by permit only ( even if permits are available to multiple groups (eg for Students, and Faculty)123 Somewhere St Lot (residents only)Bravo Lot (restricted access) - StudyHard UniversityParking allowed for Students, and Faculty ONLY345 Other St Lot (restricted access)Parking allowed for resident, guests, and staff
Examples
If a Parking Lot Area Place is contained within a larger Area Place, do not repeat the larger Area's full name. For example, if the Domestic Garage is contained within the "SFO San Francisco International Airport" Area Place boundaries, it need not be named "SFO San Francisco International Airport Domestic Garage"; "Domestic Garage - SFO" is sufficient.
If a mall or shopping center has several lots which can be associated with various anchor stores in the mall/shopping center, the lots can be named for the anchor stores. For example: "Macy's Lot - Big Hill Shopping Center"
In rare cases, a municipality or district provides public parking distinct from any other Area Place but without any documented or signed identity. These can be named after the municipality or district, for example, "Redwood City Public Parking". Do not use completely generic names such as "Parking" or "Public Parking" for anonymous parking facilities.
A block range or specific address should not be used to name a lot. If the lot does not have an official and/or signed name, then leave the name blank, and be sure to add the address details in the address field. Some imported PLAs were created with the address or address block range as the name, these names should be removed accordingly. Check your local guidance for any variations.
- NOTE: It is very important if there is no name for the lot that there be a proper address in the address field. If you don't know the exact address you should at least put the street the main entrance is on, and - if you can - an approximate house number. The address is needed to be displayed in the search results, and differentiate the lot from all the others. Users can see the address displayed, and know which lot it is when viewing the results list.